As the supreme ruler of the Demon Clan, the only Nine-Tailed Demon Fox in the human, demon, and devil realms, and the novel's biggest early-stage villain, Ning Ke had quite a few tricks up his sleeve.
His natal foxfire alone rivaled the extraordinarily powerful exotic flames born of heaven and earth. It was several times stronger than what a human cultivator with a fire heavenly spiritual root could achieve even at the pinnacle of cultivation.
It was also one of the trump cards that had enabled him to become the Demon Clan's supreme ruler.
Now, he wrapped his white-jade palm in natal foxfire and tentatively dipped it into the Demon Soul River. The demon souls instantly scattered, and that small patch of pitch-black water cleared at a speed visible to the naked eye, making Ning Ke raise an eyebrow.
"I'm fucking amazing." Marveling at his own cultivation, Ning Ke swung his hand from side to side, chasing the demon souls while taunting them. "Scared now, you little shits? Weren't you chasing me just a moment ago? Come on, chase me now! Chase me!"
His flame-wreathed fingers even flipped them off underwater as he challenged them. "You-come and get me~"
[...]
Xiao Yuan could not help reminding the host who had just been berating it for not revealing Lou Yunxiao's location sooner:
[Dearest host, if you don't save Lou Yunxiao soon, the protagonist will die and this little world will collapse. No matter how amazing you are, you'll croak too.]
Ning Ke froze. Not daring to waste any more time, he clicked his tongue, hastily formed a protective barrier of foxfire around himself, and plunged into the river.
The demon souls shrieked in fright and fled in every direction.
By the light of his foxfire, Ning Ke descended dozens of meters before finally spotting the boy lying among the mud and jagged rocks on the riverbed.
He remembered his younger sister writing this part. The male lead, Lou Yunxiao, had an unforgettable first love-someone who had saved him in the Demon Abyss when he was at his lowest.
Later, when the female lead confessed her feelings to Lou Yunxiao, the reason he did not reject her was that he mistook her for that first love.
Ning Ke could not help asking Xiao Yuan, "Xiao Yuan, wouldn't it be better to change the plot so the female lead saves Lou Yunxiao here? Wouldn't that patch up the plot hole better?"
[Host, the person who saved him was never the female lead. It was someone else, but your author sister never said who. That makes it a loose end, and you have to tie it up~]
That shut Ning Ke up.
He would just take things one step at a time.
He bore some responsibility for the male lead's miserable state anyway, so saving him was only right. He stopped asking questions.
With that thought, he slowly steadied himself in the water. His white robes rippled gently with the current. In the glow of the foxfire, his breathtaking face looked cold and aloof rather than its usual seductive self. As he bent down, his dark hair brushed Lou Yunxiao's face.
The demon souls clinging to Lou Yunxiao were so terrified that they scattered.
They revealed the boy's battered body, pitiful and deathly pale.
After such a catastrophe, it was a miracle Lou Yunxiao still had a breath left in him.
The sight of his injuries made Ning Ke wince. He gathered Lou Yunxiao into his arms, converted his demonic power into spiritual energy a human cultivator could absorb, and slowly fed it into the boy through his right hand, pressed against Lou Yunxiao's back.
It would keep him alive for now.
Then he drove away the demon souls and carried Lou Yunxiao toward the surface.
He failed to notice the faint furrow in the brow of the boy in his arms, or the hand that unconsciously reached out and clutched the hem of his robes.
As though grasping the last straw that could save his life.
Desperately craving that warmth with every ounce of strength he had.
He had managed to fish the boy out of the river.
But Xiao Yuan told Ning Ke that no completion notification had appeared for his first task.
Ning Ke was in no hurry.
After all, here in the rewound timeline, he was still the all-powerful villain who could do anything and swagger over everyone. Once he went back, he would become a prisoner at others' mercy. Compared to that, life here was much more comfortable.
He would not mind staying a little longer.
So, carrying Lou Yunxiao, who weighed no more than a little chick, he found a spacious spot, set him down, and fed the kid a heap of pills for healing external injuries.
Then he turned his attention to the original owner's spatial storage ring.
Exploring it turned him into Granny Ning on her first visit to the Grand View Garden.
"Holy shit," "fuck," "goddamn," and "fucking awesome" kept spilling out of his mouth.
"Was the original owner seriously this rich?"
"A weapons vault, an herb vault, and he could refine pills and forge artifacts too?"
"With this many high-grade magical artifacts, he could kill someone just by tossing them out, couldn't he?"
"These jewels, these accessories, these hairpins, these robes? This lipstick? This rouge?? This porn???"
The more Ning Ke looked, the stranger it became. When he finally unearthed an erotic illustrated book titled My Days and Nights with the Daoist Supreme from a secluded corner, he slapped his forehead, speechless.
Curious, he opened it to the first page. The little figures actually moved-and they were both men!
[Good heavens, not suitable for children.]
Xiao Yuan made a show of covering its eyes, peeking through its fingers as it added:
[Hmm, I never knew you were into this, host.]
"It's not me, okay! It's the original owner!"
As a thoroughly straight man, Ning Ke had never considered anything of the sort. His face flushed bright red.
He quickly tossed the book into a corner of the storage ring.
Then he pulled an entire little wooden house out of the storage space and dropped it onto the open ground.
This would be his and Lou Yunxiao's "home" from now on.
The little house had everything: a bed, a table, chairs, a writing desk, and a wardrobe.
Ning Ke carried Lou Yunxiao to the bed, cast a cleansing spell on him, changed him into clean clothes, and tucked him under the quilt. Only then did Lou Yunxiao look like a person again.
He no longer looked as wretched as when Ning Ke had first found him.
Seeing the boy's handsome, fair face, Ning Ke could not resist reaching out to poke his cheek. But after barely two pokes, he remembered this same person throttling him in the dungeon and hurriedly withdrew his hand.
Yet the instant he pulled his hand back, Lou Yunxiao suddenly began coughing violently, bloody foam spilling from his lips. Startled, Ning Ke hastily helped him up, saying, "I only touched you once. Don't try pinning this on me," as he turned him onto his side.
The blood Lou Yunxiao coughed up had a black sheen, as though he had been poisoned.
"Oh my god, Xiao Yuan, what's wrong with him?"
[His injuries are too severe, and the demon souls have eaten away at his internal organs. Unless you do something, he probably won't survive the night.]
At that, Xiao Yuan reminded him again:
[Dearest host, if he dies, you won't survive either.]
"..." Ning Ke's scalp prickled. "If you know what'll happen, then hurry up and tell me how to save him!" he snapped.
By now, Xiao Yuan had learned Ning Ke's temper. Without wasting any more words, it searched through its information and told him.
[There is only one way to save him.] [You must give him both your demon core and your foxfire.]
Before you continue